“You have rather gone from famine to feast vis-à-vis quality suitors.”

…in which things take a dark turn, and Peggy continues to look fabulous.

In an episode full of reversals, there were a few different scenes in “Monsters” that involved characters asking each other what they planned to do. What will Wilkes do about zero matter? What will Ana do, knowing Jarvis is in danger? What will Peggy do about her love triangle? In terms of pacing and suspense, those are good questions to ask at this point in the season (about two-thirds of the way through). In fact, most of those questions came about two-thirds of the way through the episode, too.

But it’s when we’re asking those questions that we can forget more immediate threats and challenges. Wilkes is concerned that we’re ten years away from understanding zero matter? Well, the threat he should be worried about is much closer: Whitney Frost is on the Stark estate, and all hell is about to break loose. Ana worried about Jarvis? Watch out for yourself, Ana! The love triangle? Well…

Wilkes’s ability to suck the power from Whitney was a fun development, but my favorite part was Whitney reacting like a scientist (“Do you feel different?”) rather than a villain. Whitney seemed to really connect with Dr. Wilkes, too. She pointed out that they were both marginalized (a word that probably didn’t have much currency back then) and seemed to be interested in forming an affiliation.

That’s a pretty stark contrast to her interrogation of Dottie, whose attempts at camaraderie (“We’re in the same boat”) were met with derision (“We’re not even in the same ocean”). Weirdly enough, Dottie seemed to have the strongest connection with Peggy: they are interesting frenemies, especially when forced to work together.

But those weren’t the only reversals. Right after Ana told Wilkes how worried she was about Jarvis, she got shot. Jarvis’s reaction to the idea of Ana in danger was a delight: he may be the clownish comic relief sometimes, but he’s no slouch when someone he loves is in danger.

Speaking of love—or, rather, speaking of Sticky Wickets: Dr. Wilkes’s journey from decorporealized to corporeal-but-contained to free-range scientist adds a new angle to the love triangle. In the box, he could make out with Peggy (woo!) but not do much more than that (no hoo!). What will happen when Peggy encounters him unboxed? How will it affect her entanglement with Sousa? And how will all of that affect Sunbunny’s theory, that we have to see more of the sure-to-be-evil-any-day-now Violet?

What we’re left with is pretty depressing: a bunch of new trauma and a bunch of questions. Sousa no longer runs the LA branch of the SSR. Peggy and Jarvis are waiting for news on Ana’s condition. Dottie is MIA, and we’re not much closer—at all!—to capturing any of the bad guys or solving any of the threats. How will Team Almost SHIELD get out of this one?

Zero Matters:

• Peggy: “Dottie’s a survivor. I won’t believe any stories of her demise until I see a dead body before me.” Aha! Peggy Carter has read Billie’s Ten Rules of Television.

• Peggy: “Are you ready?”
Dr. Wilkes: “No.”
Peggy: “Splendid.”

• Security Guard: “Now who the hell are you?”
Jarvis: “Me? I’m just the distraction.”

4 comments:

Those bonds are unbelievably loose. I can buy that Dottie and Peggy were able to escape them, but both at the same time? Dottie should be long gone by the time Peggy and Jarvis got there. And Jarvis ALSO freeing himself without any help?

This Al Capone wannabe is annoying. Which seems to be his only purpose.